Nanny-state state of the week: MD may become first to ban Vaportinis

It’s legal to drink alcohol in your home. And it’s legal to smoke in your home.

But in Maryland, it could soon be illegal to smoke your drink, even in your own home.

Maryland state lawmakers have approved a ban on Vaportinis, a new device that allows consumers to inhale fumes from heated alcoholic drinks. Think of it as a combination of a martini and hookah, or perhaps like larger scale version of an e-cigarette with booze instead of tobacco and nicotine.

The facts seem to matter little to Maryland lawmakers, who are just plain scared of the newfangled contraption.

“I took a look at what the vaporizer does, and I didn’t think it would be a good thing to be doing,” Del. Charles Barkley, D-Montgomery, who sponsored the bill, told Capital News Service of Maryland. “Some doctors were unsure what effect (vaporizing alcohol) would have on the brain.”

SIR CHARLES: State Del. Charles Barkley says people shouldn’t use Vaportinis because he “didn’t think it would be a good thing to be doing.” Obvious answer: ban it!

You have to respect the gall of someone who thinks it’s his job to ban any activity that he doesn’t think “would be a good thing to be doing.”

Barkley gets bonus points for admitting medical professionals have yet to come to a consensus about whether such devices are actually, you know, dangerous. Or at least whether they are more or less dangerous than consuming alcohol in its traditional form (something most doctors agree can be a health concern, yet lawmakers haven’t banned).

But Barkley has to share the blame, or the spotlight, with the rest of the Maryland Legislature. The state Senate voted unanimously this week to pass the ban, following on the heels of a 105-28 vote by the state House in March.

At least 20 other states already have bans on so-called “alcohol without liquid” devices, or AWOL machines, which allow users to inhale a vaporized form of alcohol instead of Palmer’s device that uses a candle to evaporate alcoholic fumes.

Regardless of how many bans come spilling out of state capitols, it’s a good bet Americans will keep finding new and innovative ways to get drunk.

If the governor signs the bill, Marylanders will have to stick to a regular martini, or a boilermaker, or a shotgunning a beer, a six-pack, straight from the bottle or methods that remain so far perfectly legal.

Meanwhile, Maryland lawmakers are just getting drunk on power.

Boehm can be reached at [email protected] and follow @EricBoehm87 and @WatchdogOrg on Twitter for more.

Eric Boehm is the national regulatory reporter for Watchdog.org. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. His work has appeared in Reason Magazine, National Review Online, The Freeman Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Examiner and Fox News. He was once featured in a BuzzFeed listicle. Follow him on Twitter @EricBoehm87 and reach him at [email protected]